'Good Counselling Is Just Excellent Communication Skills

"Good counselling is just excellent communication skills! Or is it?"Authors:Ms Merrelyn BatesMr Paul StevensonABSTRACTThere have been arguments about whether counselling is a new profession while other establishedprofessions engage in similar practices and have a legitimacy of their own. Theoreticalframeworks for professional counselling are discussed with an emphasis on practice, values andprofessional ethics. The suggestion that effective counselling is simply effective communication isdiscussed and it is argued that a unifying basis can only be derived from the assumptionsunderlying the practice of counselling rather than the theory which informs it.

"Good counselling is just excellent communication skills! Or is it?"IntroductionWithin the last ten years there has been a growth in the number of people offering their services ascounsellors. Many have a professional background in either psychiatry, psychology or socialwork, but many more, including school guidance counsellors, community nurses, ministers ofreligion, medical practitioners and others, are beginning to include counselling as part of theiractivities.Only within the last few years have tertiary institutions developed specific undergraduate degreesin counselling outside the usual recognised professional frameworks. Currently a youngoccupational group of counsellors are developing processes for registration as a recognisedprofession and are finding that they must compete with other established groups. Although we cancomplain that elitism and exclusion are alive and well in the so-called helping professions, thetensions are actually healthy because issues of practice, professionalism and accountability arebeing addressed. It is out of this debate that a clear basis for professionalism can be established.There is a perception that counselling is just the effective management of very goodcommunication skills in a one to one situation and that anyone who communicates well can put uptheir shingle and commence a practice. The more established professions who have traditionallyengaged in counselling have a history that lends weight to their perceived legitimacy: psychiatristscan argue from a medical model that they understand the physical and the mental interrelationshipswithin a person; psychologists claim that their study of individuals has a scientific base and sotheir methods contribute to the mental, behavioural and emotional well-being of their clients; andsocial workers believe in social justice, empowerment, and the promotion of human dignity. Sowhere does that leave the rest of the counsellors? They are just well intentioned people being verygood communicators - aren’t they?Theoretical frameworksWhen we look for theoretical frameworks we find that both communication and counselling arebecoming identified as their own distinct disciplines. In fact, pick up any communication text tofind what it is all about and you will discover that the first chapter or two is likely to be devoted totheories and models of communication. Many texts provide a historical perspective which takesthe reader from the engineering models associated with the telecommunications industry of the1940s, through the contribution of psychology which highlighted the importance of perception,emotion and non-verbal signals in the 60s and 70s, to the work of sociologists and social theoristswho contributed further to the understanding of communication in the 80s because of theiremphasis on language, culture and political meanings (shifting the focus from the sender of themessage to the message itself). The 90s have had a focus on the importance of audience who bringtheir own expectations and prejudices and Mohan, McGregor, Saunders and Archee (1997) haveindicated that information technology will be the focus of future communication theoreticaldevelopments in the 21st century.

2Thus Communication or Communications has become an important area of study according to thedemands of various disparate interest groups and specialist expertise in communication isbecoming highly valued. Should we as counsellors identify ourselves as good communicators andclaim "communication" as the centre of our work - or is there more to it than that? Both of thewriters of this article agree that training in communication skills is an important and developingarea with a lot to offer industry, education, the justice system and the community at large. Indeed,we have spent a number of years devising and running programs in communication at universitylevel and we recognise the disturbing limitations that a bunch of theories which include bothtechnological and interpersonal aspects of the subject, as if they are one and the same thing, beingpeddled as acceptable truth. We are becoming alarmed that these mechanistic theories tend todepersonalise the individual and to reify models which reduce the person to merely a collection ofroles and the 'communicator' as a replaceable functionary in a system of 'interpersonal interaction'.The theoretical frameworks for counselling have been recognised for a greater period and, despiteinternal debates, represents a much more unified body of knowledge (see for example McGowan &Schmidt, 1962). Discussions about 'interpersonal communication' have been primarily groundedwithin the psychiatric model and initially was particularly influenced by psychoanalytic theoristssuch as Freud, Jung and Adler. Although it is quite easy to find critics of Freud particularlyamongst those who have been influenced by the behaviour therapy movement it is important togive him credit for the ideas which inform current practice. He invented what we now callcounselling, and revolutionised the treatment for those suffering emotional and mental distress.Prior to the use of Freud's methods, quite controversial at the time, people were either “locked-up”or provided with a straight medical response. Those clients who were not physically ill or a dangerto others but who were just managing their distress were referred to priests or ministers of religionfor solace.Since Freud's contribution there has been a proliferation of alternative models of counselling. Tolist and explain them all would be more than one article but there are certainly a number who cometo mind quite quickly. Where would counselling be without the developments promoted by CarlRogers and his person-centered focus, Albert Ellis and his focus on rational emotive behaviouralcounselling, and Aaron Beck for his cognitive focus? Other names which have contributed greatlyto the developments in counselling techniques include Virginia Satir, William Glasser, GerardEgan, Eric Berne, Robert Carkhuff, and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. There are many others but all ofthese are counsellors who have communicated their professional expertise in a popular manner.Having noted that there is a history to both communication and counselling it is important torecognise that theoretical frameworks, and the models that have been developed, arise from verydifferent starting points. Counselling frameworks are fundamentally grounded in the need toalleviate personal and interpersonal distress; the focus is clear and whether the techniques arerequired to manage a crisis situation or to respond to a lack of self esteem the purpose of theprofessional intervention is agreed upon by all who are involved. On the other hand,communication theories and models have not been developed as a response to a single catalyst. Ina pot pourri of discourse we can see there is a focus on people but the whole knowledge basesurrounding the study of communication is quite amorphous and it is clear that the theoreticalframeworks for communication and counselling are different, each being a reflection of their ownsystemic origins.

3Practice and responsibilitiesBecause counselling has one over-riding purpose - to alleviate personal and interpersonal distress the counsellor requires a knowledge base which includes awareness of self, awareness of values, arange of communication strategies, and an understanding of contextual influences which willdetermine the direction taken and the therapeutic plan which is developed. In particular thecounsellor needs to be able to understand and then harness the counsellor-client relationship sothat the client is able to learn and then risk experimenting with new communicative strategies in hisor her own life space. The counsellor must become a teacher of communication skills (Carkhuff &Berenson, 1976) and since the starting point for the client’s learning must always be his own selfunderstanding, the initial focus will almost always be on the real and current interpersonalrelationships and the communication difficulties inherent in them.Bearing this in mind it is clear that people who are excellent and effective communicators will notnecessarily be effective counsellors. True, they will have an understanding of the dynamics ofinterpersonal relationships and have a strong intuitive understanding of the behavioural elementswhich contribute to effective communication but without training they will not be communicatingwithin a framework which is solely focused on the clients, their vulnerability, and the appropriateoutcome plans.Concepts, contexts and skillsA client presents in a context in which there are a lot of variables and his dysfunctions will bedirectly related to one or more of them. The question is, which elements of the client’s context arerelevant to the problem and what are the most pertinent concepts and skills that he needs to betaught in order to cope more effectively? The counsellor needs a conceptual map of the client'spersonal life space if she is to equip him with the appropriate skills. She must pay particularattention to the client’s existing interpersonal skills, assess his strengths, and then help him restatethe problem making the concepts cognitively meaningful and relevant in the process. Only thencan the client act to improve his own communication skills. Action always follows realunderstanding and understanding without action is not really understanding at all.ConceptsThe counsellor must decide early in the proceedings what level of cognitive complexity isappropriate for the client so she can help him look at his problem differently and develop new waysof coping. But she is unable to do anything without an appropriate set of concepts and an adequatelanguage with which she can express what the client cannot. It is these concepts that allowcounsellors to deal with the complexity of client responses and often they will need to have severaldifferent theoretical frameworks in order to meet the range of problems presented. One client in acrisis may require a highly directive behavioural approach early on in the crisis whereas anotherwhose problems are of a more existential nature will benefit more from a highly Rogerian “handsoff” approach.